4 Management Traps to Avoid at All Costs

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From Michael Scott to Miranda Priestly and even Monty Burns, pop culture is littered with bosses who are fun to watch but who’d be hell to work for. If you want to be a positive, effective leader, you’ll want to steer clear of the following four traits at all costs:

1. Complaining. Don’t do it. It undermines your efforts, the work of your colleagues and generally erodes trust and company morale.

2. Emotional volatility. Good managers can read a room and know how to respond under pressure. If you let your frustrations get away from you, you won’t be able to focus on the problems that most need your attention.

3. Playing nice. Treat everyone with respect but remember that you can't be everyone's friend, especially when it comes to the tough calls.

4. Micromanaging. When you're in charge, it's easy to feel like if you aren't keeping all the balls in the air, no one will. But as the company grows, you have to trust that the people you hired will do the work you need.

For more tips on how to be an awesome boss, watch the short video above.